Sheathing-lath



A. BALDWIN SHEATHING LATH.

(No Model.)

i Patented July 11, 18-93.

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I I I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW BALDWIN, OF VIROQUA, WISCONSIN.

SHEATHING-LATH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 501,397, dated July 11,1 893.

7 Application filed April 3, 1893. Serial No. 468,879. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANnRnw BALDWIN, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Viroqua, in the county of Vernon and State of Wisconsin,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheathing Laths;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification,and in which-- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a piece of my improvedsheathing lath, ready to be nailed onto the studding. Fig. 2 is a sideview of the same. Fig.3 is a front or face view of the lath as itappears after nailing on the studding; and Fig. 4. is a verticalsectional view of the studding or backing and the lath nailed thereon,on line x'a: in Fig. 3; the dotted lines showing the position of thelath before bending it into shape and fastening it upon the studding.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures.

This invention relates to wooden sheathinglaths for nailing onto thestudding to hold the plastering in in-door work, of that type whichconsists of longitudinally grooved wooden strips adapted to hold theplaster in the grooves; and my improvement consists in cutting the lathstrips with a concave face and convex back and grooving in a peculiarmanner, as and for the purpose which will be hereinafter more fullydescribed and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, the letter A denotes the studding or backingand B the body-strip of my improved wooden sheathing lath. This consistsof a strip of pine or other suitablewood, of any desired length andwidth, which is grooved longitudinally on one side, the grooves orchannels, 0 0, running parallel to one another from end to end. Thesestrips are cut or sawed by suitable machinery so that the back, D, willbe convex or rounded, corresponding to the concavity or hollowing of thegrooved front side, E; and the middle groove or channel, 0', is cutdeeper than the rest, so as to extend into the wood below the same, asclearly shown at 0. At the upper and under side of each piece of groovedlath are tongues or rabbets, F F, which, in nailing the lath upon thestudding, approach but do not touch corresponding rabbets on theadjacent pieces of lath, so as to form grooves or channels G between thepieces of lath corresponding in depth and width to the parallel integralchannels 0' C, but having deeper sub -grooves H. It is important thatthe grooves O G and 0 should run at a slight angle to the grain of thewood from which the lath is cut; 216., not exactly parallel to or withthe grain, but deflecting slightly therefrom, for the purposehereinafter stated.

To use this lath, it is nailed upon a proper" backing or studding, 'A,by nails, a, inserted through the ribs formed by and between theparallel grooves or channels C. In this process of nailing the convexstrips of lath upon the straight face of the studding, it is necessarilybent backward at both edges, which results in the cracking or splittingof the wood at its thinnest part offering least resistance, viz: at thebottom 0 of the deep middle groove C. Now, if this groove were cut inalignment with or parallel to the grain or fiber of the wood, the lathwould split through at this point; but the grooves being out at a sharpangle, that is, deflecting a little from the line or direction of thegrain, the strip of lath will not break entirely through, but merelycrack at the bottom of the deep groove 0, so as to form slantingfissures, shown at c in Figs. 3 and 4, which overlap one another endwiseand form narrow recesses, or rather sub-recesses, which are filled withplaster during the subsequent process of plastering the lath, and thusco-operate with the grooves O and O to hold the plastering firmly uponthe lath and prevent'it from falling or scaling ofi. Another result ofthis straightening out of the convex lath upon the studding is theformation of longitudinal dovetailed recesses H in the bottom of thegrooves G formed by the parallel meeting edges of the tongues or rabbetsF, F, of adjacent pieces of lath. These rabbets being cut with straightor square edges f in the process of bending back or straightening outthe lath, the opposite parallel edges f f of contiguous pieces of lathwill be slanted inwardly so as to form, between adjacent sections orpieces of lath, the dovetailed channels or sub-recesses H, shown in Fig.4:; a narrow open space, h, being left between the adjacent strips oflath for this purpose, instead of bringing the pieces up close together.These dovetailed channels H ('20- operate with the fissures c andgrooves C and G O to retain the plastering firmly in place.

From the foregoing, it will be observed that my improved sheathing lathcan be made with little or no Waste; that it does not require special orcomplicated machinery for its manufacture; and that it possessesadvantages as a holder or binder for the plaster not found in theordinary lath.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States-

